Rich Fiscus
23 Jun 2008 17:19
Since Bell Canada was accused of throttling P2P traffic back in March they have freely admitted the practice, and claimed it was necessary because of its affect on their network. In May the company defended their actions in a filing with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), as part of their public inquiry into the matter. Unfortunately the actual traffic figures in the filing were withheld from the public.
Bell Canada claimed it was vital to keep the information private to keep it out of competitors' hands. It seems that the CTRC doesn't agree. The agency's director general of competition, costing, and tariffs has sent a letter to Bell Canada instructing the company to make the data public.
"Commission staff has determined, based on all the material before it, that no specific direct harm would likely result from disclosure, or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any specific direct harm that might result from disclosure," read the letter.
With the actual traffic data finally available to the public we'll get some actual debate about the facts of the case instead of Bell Canada's posturing. Regardless of what the facts are it's not likely to turn out well for Bell Canada.
If it looks like they're exxagerating traffic problems it will certainly be difficult to explain, but what if they are actually running out of bandwidth? Questions about poor planning, and possibliy even insufficent preparation for the future may prove much harder to explain for a company that supplies internet access for both consumers and other ISPs.